Richmond Road Rezoning Opposed

WILLIAMSBURG — A city proposal to erase eyesores by creating a zone for privately owned student housing on Richmond Road faces opposition from residents who fear it will destroy their neighborhoods.

The planning commission will vote Wednesday on whether the city should create a new zoning district that would allow the owners of the Southern Inn, Days Inn, Tioga Motel and Wachovia bank properties to build, with a special-use permit, apartments designed for students at the College of William and Mary.

While city officials see it as a way to help the owners of rundown properties improve their lots -- and remove sites the mayor has labeled eyesores -- several dozen residents there are opposed to the idea.

"It would bring in so many cars, so many students," said Marguerite Davis, a Nelson Avenue resident and former Planning Commission chairwoman. "It would make our quality of living deteriorate rapidly. We feel very embattled over this."

The new zoning designation would allow nearly double the number of occupants than are currently allowed in the city's highest-density housing, city Planning Director Reed Nester said.

Wednesday's vote isn't just an exercise in bureaucracy. The Florakis brothers, who own the Southern Inn and nearby properties, have a concept for a redbrick, three-story apartment complex for 165 students, featuring fully furnished four-bedroom units. The site is just east of the Williamsburg Shopping Center. Until the city changes its zoning ordinance -- the subject of Wednesday's vote -- the project can't be considered for that site.

The proposal to make it possible to even consider that or similar projects brought Davis and about 50 neighbors to a meeting with Nester, where they voiced concerns about noise and traffic in an already congested corridor.

Residents are troubled that the proposal, which Nester wrote, goes against a clause in the city's 1998 comprehensive plan recommending that no new high-density housing be built. City officials say the project meets other goals of that plan, such as redeveloping some prundown properties along Richmond Road.

It could also take some pressure off neighborhoods near the college as the demand for off-campus housing increases, Nester said.

But neighbors don't buy that argument. As long as landlords can make more money renting to college students than families, they will continue to do so, said Henry Coleman, a retired professor who lives on College Terrace.

"It's too late to close the barn door," Coleman said, referring to the influx of students into city neighborhoods. He said the only way to reverse that trend would be for the city or some organization to start buying up houses bordering the college.

"And that will never come about because they're priced out of the market," Coleman said.

Planning commissioners also are asking questions about the timing of the proposal, given the city will revise its comprehensive plan in January.

"What are the college's needs for student housing? What are the college's plans for student housing? In developing the comprehensive plan, we'll put all these pieces together and then make better decisions for the future of the city," said Commissioner Doug Pons, who said he will vote against the proposal.

"If we try to do things case by case, I think ultimately we'll be failing in our responsibility."

Daphne Sashin can be reached at 223-5684 or by e-mail at dsashin@dailypress.com